The adventures of a coterie of Cainites in the Dark Medieval world. Drawn together by prophecy and fuelled by ambition, they struggle against the dying of the Long Night...

Ruxandra

This fugitive Nosferatu masqueraded as Nova Arpad for nearly nine years, overseeing the deterioration of the Arpad Prince's power and supervising her imprisonment. She was present at the Battle of the Black Cave

Description:

When they first met Ruxandra, her guise as Prince Nova Arpad of Mediasch, the Nosferatu was using her Mask of 1000 Faces Obfuscate power. Her depiction of the countenance of the haughty Hungarian noblewoman was flawless, though her lack of nobles graces and ragged grasp on her own sanity gave the lie to the image.

When encountered at Hermannstadt in 1214, she wore a different face each time, but during the Battle of the Black Cave, her true form was revealed. She has sharp, angular features, pointed ears and dull purplish grey skin. Paranoid of the hunters that still seek her destruction, she hovers in the shadows, as if poised to flee. Several clumps of long, greenish grey hair cling to her head. She wears a fine gown, fit for a noble lady.

Bio:

Little is known of this Vlach Nosferatu, save that she is the peasant progeny of Prince Marusca of Hermannstadt, and that she was a victim of Prince Nova Arpad of Mediasch. Whatever indignities that Ruxandra suffered as a member of Nova’s herd have engendered within her with a fierce desire for revenge against the Ventrue. She was an instrumental member of the conspiracy that brought the so-called Overlord of the Siebenburgen low, and managed to impersonate Lady Nova as prince of Mediasch for almost nine years, steadily unravelling and exhausting the Ventrue mastermind’s extensive power base among the guilds while taking pains also to siphon her wealth. During this time, she also served as Nova’s jailer, and it is thought that she sought to return tenfold the abuse and indignity that she suffered as a mortal.

By AD 1198, her increasingly erratic and vague behaviour had compromised her position, and her subterfuge was uncovered by the coterie known as Das Eisen Bund (the Iron Covenant). Ruxandra was forced to flee the settlement for parts unknown, although she attempted to diablerise Nova before she ran. The Iron Covenant prevented this also, and have reaped huge rewards from the restored prince. Nova’s first act was to declare a Blood Hunt against Mitru of Klausenburg, Marusca of Hermannstadt, and Ruxandra herself. Entrenched as they were, the first two Cainites were always unlikely to face justice, so Ruxandra became the only viable target of the hunt. Unfortunately for the furious prince, her former captor and once victim enjoys a profound skill with the arts of the Mask of 1000 Faces, and she was not so much as sighted before 1214.

Ruxandra had long been suspected to have taken shelter with her sire, Marusca, and this was confirmed when the Concord formed a partnership with the Brood of Hermannstadt. Over the course of their brief association, while the destruction of Marelle and her Hell Hounds was planned out, Sister Maude Khlesl and Svenin the Tall where fooled on a number of occasions by Ruxandra’s capacity for disguise. She had little to say in these discussions, choosing instead to listen to proceedings calmly and attentively, then disappearing quickly afterwards. Any attempts to engage her in conversation were politely but forcefully rebuffed in a manner quite reminiscent of the noble lady she once portrayed so skilfully.

She would participate in the Battle of the Black Cave only hesitantly, and was one of the last of the Brood to follow Oana on her reckless charge up the hill. Unlike nearly all of her coterie-mates, Ruxandra chose to fight with a dagger, perhaps indicating a lack of proficiency with the Protean discipline, which appears otherwise to be common to the Nosferatu of Hermannstadt. She used the weapon to capable effect against the hell hound ghouls and sickened wolves on the periphery of the fight, dancing among them and aiming for groin, throat, and underbelly with enviable skill. However, when her progeny, Fritzi, was impaled by the formidable Tzimisce warrior, Corneliu, Ruxandra threw herself into the fray recklessly. Standing over her fallen childe and fending off the bandit-lord’s ghouls, she was soon hard-pressed and injured by several bites. With some amusement, Corneliu drew his own knife and briefly engaged the actress in a duel.

Ruxandra was unable to hold the Tzimisce at bay for more than a pass or two before he opened her belly with a vicious cut, and Corneliu contemptuously left the two badly wounded Nosferatu to be ravaged by his minions while he rushed on to an ill-starred encounter with Brother Adalbert and Maria. This oversight alone allowed Ruxandra and Fritzi to survive the Battle of the Black Cave and, ragged as they were, both would soon howl in victory alongside
their broodmates. With the werewolves closing in, they then fell upon the wounded and newly dead to harvest their blood before fleeing into the wild.

In the coming nights, Ruxandra announced to the Brood and the Concord that with the threat of Marelle and the Hell Hounds abated, she would soon be moving on to seek fortune and safety elsewhere. A wise move, since her hiding spot was now compromised by outsiders, albeit allies. It would only be a matter of time before a foolhardy Cainite, eager to take the large bounty on her head, would track her down and endanger the Brood. Ruxandra was determined to have none of that, and she departed the city even before the Concord also moved on.

Her current movements are unknown.

Lineage: Childe of Marusca, Childe of Zelios, Childe of Hannibal; of the lineage of the Hag, also known as Baba Yaga. Ruxandra is of the 9th generation.